Today is Constitution Day!

Monday, September 17, 2012

What better way to celebrate than by examining a few of the ways our elected officials are either protecting or slashing our constitutional rights on the job!?

This Constitution Day, we should remember the rights of ALL hard-working men and women. If we are all afforded equal protection of the laws, why are these workers forced to toil in heats of up to 120 degrees, with minimal breaks, all while having their wages stolen?

Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas ruled that Scott Walker’s union-busting law violates both the state and U.S. Constitution and that therefore, many parts of it arenull and void. “At least for now we can take heart that Wisconsin Judge Colas slapped down the anti-labor ambitions of the reprehensible Scott Walker as unconstitutional.”

The 99% is working hard in Michigan to ensure that collective bargaining is a guaranteed right under the state constitution, but they are being met with some severe opposition from the 1%, who would rather crush unions than see them receive a tiny portion of record corporate profits.

This is an oldy, but a goody. Definitely an article that EVERYONE should read. Labor organizing is a civil right, and should be treated as such. “Labor organizing is connected to the fundamental constitutional right of association that is recognized as part of the First Amendment. In a democracy, individuals have a right to join together with others to promote their interests and values.” If you support our constitution, there is no doubt you should support labor organizing as a civil right.

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The great American middle class wasn’t something that just happened – it was built brick by brick. It was built by soldiers returning from war and a government that repaid them by giving them a shot at college.

What the wealthy and well-connected figured out is that they have strength in numbers: the numbers of dollars they contribute to politicians. It’s time working and middle class Americans use our strength in numbers to reclaim the American Dream. We need a counterweight to the power of big money – and that’s the power of big numbers, the power of ordinary people who work for a living demanding to have our voices heard – from the workplace to Washington.